Stars and Galaxies
Sun compared to Sirius A Sirius is a binary star—two stars that orbit each other. Sirius A is shown. Sirius B is a white dwarf.
Sun compared to Betelgeuse Betelgeuse is about 6 AU in diameter, large enough to completely engulf the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Earth, Mars and about half the Asteroid Belt.
Three galaxies seen from the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in South America The Large Magellanic Cloud and Small Magellanic Cloud are two dwarf galaxies that orbit the Milky Way.
The Milky Way as “seen” in Infrared
The Milky Way’s Twin: NGC 7331
The Milky Way, Andromeda, and NGC 7331 are all large, spiral galaxies. The Milky Way’s Closest Large Neighbor: The Andromeda Galaxy The Milky Way, Andromeda, and NGC 7331 are all large, spiral galaxies.
NGC 4881: A large, elliptical galaxy
Large Magellanic Cloud: Dwarf Irregular Galaxy (lacks elliptical or spiral shape)
The Virgo Cluster: about 160 large galaxies & 2000 dwarf galaxies
How many galaxies can you count in 60 seconds?
Seven STARS in the Milky Way are circled in blue. Almost everything else is a GALAXY. This picture contains about 10,000 galaxies.